Monthly news, events & updates

Building a Rainforest in the Desert | October 2025

UNMRI Received Nine U.S. Issued Patents for July, August, and Sept.

See the list

UNM Business & Economic Summit

November 19

Register here

Leadership Coaching for Entrepreneurs

Office hours with Scott Tafoya

Rainforest Student Pitch Competition

Apply by October 21

Pitch Deck Competition

Apply by November 16

Indigenous Entrepreneurs Podcast

New episodes

Upcoming Events

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NMTEEP and City of Santa Fe Recognized for Excellence in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Development

The “New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program & City of Santa Fe Tribal Liaison Spinoff” has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Award, presented at the New Mexico IDEA Economic Development Excellence Awards on September 25th.

 

Hosted annually by New Mexico IDEA, the Economic Development Excellence Awards celebrates the people, projects, and partnerships driving economic growth, supporting local talent, and building stronger communities across New Mexico. The Entrepreneurial & Small Business Development Award specifically honors a program that offers a unique approach to enhancing the entrepreneurial culture in a community or region.

 

Launched in 2022 with an $800,000 American Rescue Plan Economic Adjustment Assistance grant from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), the New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program (NMTEEP) was created to help break down barriers and generate opportunity through entrepreneurship in historically underserved communities in New Mexico with a primary focus on coal-impacted tribal communities.


Read more

UNM Rainforest Innovations Showcases Quantum Technologies during IEEE Quantum Week

As part of the IEEE Quantum Week 2025, UNM Rainforest Innovations hosted a showcase on September 3 to highlight quantum research and technologies from the University of New Mexico.


The talks given by Robert Ledoux, Ph.D., Director, Quantum New Mexico Institute (QNM-I), Marek Osinski, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, UNM Electrical and Computer Engineering, Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation’s National Quantum Virtual Laboratory (NQVL), and David Hanson, Ph.D., UNM Associate Vice President for Research, External Relations, highlighted various projects, research and partnerships that are expanding the state’s capabilities and competitiveness in quantum.


Learn more about the quantum innovations coming out of the University of New Mexico: https://innovations.unm.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Quantum-Marketing-Summary.pdf


See related article: NSF awards UNM-led team $4M to design photonic quantum computer

In the Spotlight - Featured UNM Inventor

Ahmed Telbany, MD, MPH

Fellow Physician

Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

School of Medicine

The University of New Mexico


Dr. Telbany's research areas include inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer.

New Mexico SBIR/STTR Matching Grants Support Local Startups, Including Shearit

In August, the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced the recipients of its SBIR/STTR Matching Grant Program. Among the awardees was local startup Shearit, LLC who received a $50,000 state matching grant. The funding will support the development of Shearit’s Lamiflo™, a first-in-class, non-drug therapy that physically increases blood flow to the brain during strokes by enhancing red blood cell movement. Lamiflo™ aims to preserve brain tissue, extend treatment windows, and improve patient and hospital outcomes. The grant is a part of a broader initiative by the New Mexico Economic Development Department to support scalable, homegrown tech companies driving innovation and economic growth the state.


See the New Mexico Economic Development Departments press release, “State awards grants to five New Mexico tech companies,” on the NMEDD website here: https://edd.newmexico.gov/pr/state-awards-grants-to-five-new-mexico-tech-companies/

Indigenous Entrepreneurs Podcast

The Indigenous Entrepreneurs podcast aims to tell the story of the Entrepreneur’s Journey, specifically that of the indigenous entrepreneur, through candid conversations featuring successful indigenous entrepreneurs.

Interview with Richard (Rico) Frias, Attorney & Founding Partner of Frias Indian Law and Policy, LLC

Richard “Rico” Frias is an attorney and the founding partner of Frias Indian Law and Policy, LLC. He previously served as the executive director of the Native American Finance Officers Association and legislative director of the National Indian Gaming Association. He also previously served as the chief general counsel for the Pueblo of Pojoaque in New Mexico.


Listen on Spotify

Native American Business Roundtable - City of Santa Fe Economic Development

UNM Rainforest Innovations is collaborating with the City of Santa Fe Economic Development Department to bring this roundtable event to Santa Fe for Native American owned-businesses and entrepreneurs.


These monthly gatherings create space for Native American entrepreneurs, artists, and business owners to connect, share resources, and build pathways to success.

Mark your calendar—this roundtable will meet monthly, 10:00 a.m. at the Santa Fe Business Incubator!


Scheduled Dates for Roundtable Events:

  • Tuesday, October 14th
  • Tuesday, November 12th
  • Tuesday, December 9th
  • Tuesday, January 13th
  • Tuesday, February 10th
  • Tuesday, March 10th

NMBio Knowledge Fair

Advancing Life Science & Health Innovation

When: November 12

Time: 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where: CNM’s Workforce Training Center, Albuquerque

Online Registration Fee: $50

Walk-in Fee: $75


This year’s program will highlight the promising research and breakthrough accomplishments of a dozen innovative firms as well as provide updates on proposed federal and state legislation that can impact the bioscience and health care sectors as well as the lives of NM residents. You’ll get breaking news from PhRMA and BIO’s top governmental affairs representatives on federal legislation being proposed and debated in Congress and get progress reports on two planned, state-of-the-art wet lab facilities in Albuquerque. 


The keynote luncheon speaker is Anthony Dohrmann, Founder & CEO, Electronic Caregiver. He will give his vision of the future direction of healthcare now that our nation has an increasing shortage of doctors. Based in Las Cruces, the digital health technology and service provider specializes in AI-driven health monitoring for older adults and those with chronic conditions. It also provides technology-assisted care, which utilizes devices and software like Addison Care (by ECG) or remote patient monitoring (RPM) to provide support, reminders, and safety to users, often through telehealth services.  

2025 University of New Mexico Business & Economic Summit

New Mexico the Entrepreneurial

November 19 | 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Lobo Rainforest Building

This year’s theme “New Mexico the Entrepreneurial” is derived from our partner Right to Start’s national campaign “America the Entrepreneurial” and highlights the leadership of New Mexico in a national context. The 2025 fall Summit will focus on growing the New Mexico entrepreneurial ecosystem in the midst of uncertainty, which is not uncommon for entrepreneurs. We want to promote and support entrepreneurs in the state as we know entrepreneurship drives progress through job growth and generational wealth.


For more details, hotel accommodations, and to register to attend, go to: https://NMtheEntrepreneurial.eventbrite.com

SCORE Mentors Available for One-on-One Meetings

Meet with SCORE mentors at the Lobo Rainforest Building or on Zoom! Mentors are available for one-on-one, confidential discussions and mentoring to inventors, students, and start-up companies.

 

SCORE mentors are successful business people and entrepreneurs who want to give back to the community by helping other entrepreneurs become and stay successful. SCORE has been helping small businesses start and grow in the Albuquerque area for over 50 years through mentoring and workshops and seminars. SCORE is the largest National resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) with about 11,000 SCORE volunteers sharing their time and talents to help America's small businesses.

 

Interested? Contact Cara Michaliszyn at cmichaliszyn@innovations.unm.edu to arrange.

Registration is Now Open for the Advanced Economic Development Leadership 2025 Session

An intense, comprehensive curriculum now in a one-week session!

Limited space remaining to join this cohort!


Join the 2025 Cohort Session:

November 3-6, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri


AEDL immerses participants in a collaborative, team-centric approach that fosters learning through exploration, debate, exercises and team competition. The program attracts practitioners from across the U.S. bringing a wide range of thought, ideas and experiences to these sessions. Through this approach and the diversity of thought represented, participants often learn as much from interaction with fellow professionals as they do from faculty instruction.


Learn more about the program

UNM Rainforest Innovations | Website

Staff Listing

Board of Directors


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